we've got our feet dangling high off the ground
by kassss
Summary: AU. Finn and Rachel grew up as best friends. They, at one point or another, developed feelings for one another. They go on a day trip to an amusement park.


"No. Absolutely not."

"Come on, Rach. Please? For me?"

It was a rainy summer evening, and Rachel had been spending it cleaning out her room when Finn had bounded in, plopping himself on the edge of her bed, with, in his words, 'the best idea, like, ever!'.

Rachel didn't quite agree with him there.

Finn pulled out the best pleading, puppy dog look that he could manage. It always worked. He could see Rachel's resolve begin to crack.

"Finn, I really don't think - "

"You'll have a good time, I swear! Cross my heart! And if you don't, I'll," Finn paused for a moment, thinking, "I'll watch Funny Girl with you as many times as you want for the next week!"

It was amazing how quickly Finn was able to break down her defenses. She just never could quite manage to say no to him. Especially not when he was looking at her so hopefully, so eager for her to agree. If one thing was sure, it was that her best friend was her biggest weakness. Her chink in the armour, if you will.

Ever since she had met him in Mrs. Friesen's second grade class, after helping her up and giving her his dunk-a-roo from his lunch when Ricky Carver had tripped her, Rachel and Finn had become inseparable. They had grown up together, now going into their junior year of high school, being best friends. And Rachel knew she would do anything for Finn.

"Well, I suppose - "

But before she could even finish her sentence, Finn had already leapt up and captured her in a giant bear hug.

"You're the best! You'll have a great time, I just know it!" Finn said as he pulled away from her, keeping his hands on her shoulders.

Finn had a huge grin on his face and was nodding his head quickly and looking at her so earnestly that she could just feel the happiness radiating off of him, infecting her.

"Okay," Rachel said, unable to stop a smile from spreading across her own face, "When will we be leaving? And do I need to bring anything? Perhaps I should start a list -"

"Rachel! Relax," Finn caught her off when he sensed her beginning to ramble, "We're leaving tomorrow morning. And don't worry! Just bring your wonderful self and I'll take care of the rest!"

She couldn't help but blush slightly at his words. She couldn't deny that over the years, she had begun to develop feelings for Finn. It seemed impossible for her not to.

Finn continued to talk, oblivious to the effect his simple words had on Rachel. Saying his goodbyes, Finn reminded her he'd be by to pick her up at 9:00 am.

"Sharp!" he added, with enthusiasm.

Rachel knew that whatever tomorrow would bring, it would certainly be interesting. After all, she had never been to an amusement park before.

* * *

><p>Finn didn't roll up to Rachel's house until close to 10:30 the next morning. He overslept. So sue him.<p>

"It's about time you got here," Rachel began, with a frown on her face, as soon as he started to get out of his truck, "I've been sitting on my front porch waiting since nine!"

She wasn't actually mad at Finn; she never expected him to actually be there by nine. She knew him too well. But it was always fun to mess with him a little bit.

"Rach, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to sleep in," Finn said, his voice full of regret, "You know how I can be," he added a little bashfully, looking down and grabbing the back of his neck.

"Well, you should have thought of that before you made me wait for an _hour and a half_."

"I'm really, really sorry," Finn apologized, "If it makes you feel any better, I tripped and hit my head on my dresser this morning when I realized how late I had overslept," He looked up at her, his face full of hope of forgiveness.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Is it bruised?" Rachel asked in concern, losing any pretence of being mad at him, as she began inspecting his forehead, running her fingers over his face, looking for any signs of an injury, "Oh! What if you have a concussion? We should probably get you to a hospital – "

"Rach, I'm fine! Honest. Just a bit of a headache," Finn told her, grabbing her hands, pulling them down from his face and holding them in his own, "But does this mean I'm forgiven?" he asked, his dimpled grin appearing.

Rachel couldn't keep her 'angry' act up any longer.

"Finn, I was never really mad at you. I was just screwing with you a bit," she replied with a cheeky grin, "You're way too easy to fool."

"Oh, is that so?"

Rachel nodded vigorously.

"Well, as I recall, I'm not the one who believed that I was a cousin of a Backstreet Boy until sixth grade."

"Hey! That's not fair! How was I supposed to know you weren't related to one of them? Your voice was good enough for it, not to mention your looks were good enough for it too!"

Letting her hands go, Finn felt his cheeks heat up at her comment. He couldn't help it, really. It's not his fault that after all the years of being best friends that she'd managed to capture his heart. He really couldn't do anything to stop it, even if he wanted to.

"Okay, okay. Fine. I'm the gullible one here, not you," Finn conceded.

Rachel simply smiled smugly.

"Well, I suppose we better hit the road, _especially_ considering we were supposed to leave at _9:00 am sharp!_" Rachel stated, her voice going low, in the best impression of Finn she could manage.

Finn just laughed in response and hopped into his truck, with Rachel jumping into the passenger seat, as they got ready to begin their long car trip to the nearest amusement park.

* * *

><p>"Oh, we're halfway there! Oh, oh! Living on a prayer!"<p>

Finn had the radio blasted and was belting out Bon Jovi at the top of his lungs as Rachel laughed openly beside him.

"Hey, come on, I know you wanna sing along," Finn said as he took his right hand off the wheel to poke Rachel in the arm, teasingly.

"Oh, but why on earth would I interrupt this one man show? One which, I must say, I am thoroughly entertained by."

"Aw, but you know how amazing our duets are! Besides, since when does Rachel Berry give up the opportunity for a performance? Even if it's just for little old me?"

Finn looked over at her, eyebrows raised, waiting for her response. She merely smirked at him and joined in singing with the second verse of the song.

* * *

><p>Finn could hardly contain his excitement as they made their way from the parking lot over to the entrance of the amusement park. He was practically shaking.<p>

Rachel hadn't gone on any rides yet and she already felt like she might lose those goldfish crackers her and Finn ate on the ride up. How Finn convinced her to go to an amusement park was beyond her. But then he looked over at her, thrilled like a little kid on Christmas, a giant grin plastered on his face, and, _oh yeah_, that's how he managed to get her to tag along.

"Look, Rach! Look at the rollercoaster! _It's huge_! And the spinning tea cups! Oh, and the Drop of Doom is over there! HOLY CRAP DO YOU SEE THAT FLIPPING RIDE?"

Finn immediately grabbed her by the hand, dragging her to the ride line-up for the biggest contraption Rachel had ever seen in her entire life, commonly referred to as a rollercoaster.

"Aren't you stoked?"

"S – Sure. Yeah, totally!" Rachel knew the nervousness crept into her voice, but she tried to be positive for Finn. He was so happy. And she was just terrified.

Finn could tell she was lying. He could hear it in her voice. Not to mention, when he looked down at her, the look on her face was one that could only be described as pure terror.

"Is everything okay? Are you nervous?"

"Well, yes. Okay, I'm honestly petrified to go on this ride designed to move at high speeds and flip, turn, and induce vomit. I mean, haven't you read some of those horror stories of safety failures on these? They're essentially just humungous death traps! We could die, Finn! Die!" Rachel began to babble on, verging on becoming hysterical. Finn just stared at her wide-eyed. "And I haven't been on Broadway yet, or won a Tony, or even graduated high school! What if - "

"Whoa, Rach, calm down! You'll be fine, I promise."

"But Finn, you can't promise that! You don't know that we won't become one of the victims of a horrific ride tragedy that ends up on the six o'clock new! For all we know – "

"I won't let anything happen to you."

She looked at him, slightly startled at his tender tone and the subtle conviction of his words, but was still not totally convinced.

"Look, we don't have to go on it if you don't want to. I'm not gonna like, force you to do something you don't want to. Hey, you know, I think I saw bumper cars earlier. We can go on that instead if you want," Finn said, with such gentleness in his voice that Rachel couldn't help but relax.

"But what about you? I know you wanted to go on the rollercoaster. It's basically all you talked about on the ride up here."

Finn shrugged, and looking softly at Rachel replied, "I want to go on rides with _you_."

She couldn't help the smile that slowly grew on her face. She made her decision right then and there. She squared her shoulders and set her face in determination.

"Okay. Let's go on this rollercoaster."

"Rach, are you sure? We don't have to."

"I'm sure. I'm Rachel freaking Berry and I can conquer this!" Rachel said, and then quickly added, "Besides, I want to go on rides with you too. And I want this to be one of them!"

Finn positively beamed at her.

* * *

><p>Despite her initial fears, Rachel did in fact end up having a great time on the rollercoaster. It didn't hurt that Finn held her hand the whole time. And he bought her a cotton candy after.<p>

It was nearing the end of the night, and Finn and Rachel had gone on nearly every ride, except for the tilt-a-whirl, which Finn couldn't get Rachel to go on after they saw somebody puke while on it. Finn knew Rachel was starting to get tired when she yawned and almost tripped over her own feet.

"Careful there, you're starting to get clumsier than me," Finn joked while gently nudging Rachel with his elbow, "You ready to head home?"

"Yeah, but I wanna go on the Ferris wheel before we leave. It looks so pretty with all the lights on it now that it's dark out."

Finn and Rachel made their way over to the Ferris wheel, and since there was virtually no line, got on right away. About thirty seconds into the ride, Rachel leaned her head onto Finn's shoulder, her fatigue taking over.

Then she looked up at Finn, and said, "I had fun today. Thanks for convincing me to come."

He smiled down softly at her. She just looked so pretty, the coloured little lights illuminating her face, with her hair falling over her shoulders, her big brown eyes gazing up at him, and he couldn't help it. He kissed her. It was quick and soft, but he already felt addicted. He pulled away, keeping his face close to hers, and he felt her warm breath wash over him.

After a moment, Rachel spoke quietly, "You don't know how long I've waited for you to do that."

Finn released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He felt a smile erupt on his face as he saw one appear on hers.

She looked up at him in pure adoration and Finn just blurted out without thinking, "You're the most amazing girl I've ever known, and I think I might be in love with you."

Rachel looked slightly stunned, but her smile only grew even wider.

"I think I'm in love with you too."

Finn felt his grin threatening to split his face in half, but he couldn't care less.

"I'm going to kiss you again."

"I should hope so."


End file.
